Conservative Party leader Andrew Scheer unveiled his new caucus leadership team Thursday in Ottawa.

Conservative Party Leader Andrew Scheer is unveiling his House leadership team in Ottawa today, and at least two familiar faces will assume senior posts, CBC News has learned.

Scheer will present a "regionally and gender diverse team," but he will be partially hampered by the fact the party returned no MPs in either Atlantic Canada or the North in the 2015 election. Eighteen of the 99 Tories elected are women, or roughly 18 per cent of the caucus.

Ontario MP Lisa Raitt will be appointed deputy leader, sources told CBC News. The Cape Breton native, a deft communicator who has performed well in question period while in opposition, will be given a "meaningful mandate" and staff to support her work.

Raitt, who ran against Scheer but ultimately placed eighth on the first ballot, said publicly ahead of the vote that she had picked Scheer as her second choice on the ranked ballot.

While she represents a suburban Toronto-area riding, Raitt has been a vocal advocate for her home region, and fared well in ridings in Nova Scotia during her leadership bid despite a distant finish.

Former interim leader Rona Ambrose tapped Raitt to serve as her finance critic, but the former transport minister stepped away from that role after jumping into the race.

Manitoba MP Candice Bergen will also be part of the five-member team that will be unveiled.

Bergen will be recognized for the "tremendous job" she did as House leader under Ambrose, as she was seen as wielding an "iron fist with a velvet glove" in her pointed attacks on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his cabinet, a Conservative source, speaking on background, said.

Bergen became House leader after Scheer stepped down to run in the race to replace Stephen Harper as permanent leader. Bergen has squared off with Liberal House leader Bardish Chagger; the two squabbled over controversial proposed changes to the House standing orders.

Opposition critic roles traditionally mirror the government cabinet ministers they face on the other side of the House of Commons, including such jobs as deputy leader, finance critic, House leader and critics for all the major government departments.

Candice Bergen 20140706
Conservative MP Candice Bergen will be a part of the leadership team. (Sean Kilpatrick/Canadian Press)

Quebec MP Alain Reyes, who backed Scheer in the leadership race, will serve as his Quebec lieutenant, and could be tapped for another role on the team. Quebec MP Denis Lebel, who has signalled he will be retiring from the House soon, had previously served as Ambrose's deputy leader.

Four female MPs endorsed Scheer in the leadership campaign, including Saskatchewan MP Kelly Block, Quebec MP Sylvie Boucher, Alberta MP Shannon Stubbs, and Saskatchewan MP Cathay Wagantall. One of these women could also be rewarded for their early support of the eventual leader.

Conservative leader Andrew Scheer announced the leadership team of the official opposition in the House of Commons during a press conference in Ottawa on Thursday.

Unlike Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's election pledge of a 50-50 gender diverse cabinet, Scheer made no specific commitment but selected candidates from both genders and from across Canada with the exception of the Maritimes and territories, where the party failed to retain any seats.

And while Trudeau was criticized after unveiling the Liberal cabinet because one-third of female Liberal ministers were given lower positions as ministers of state, Scheer has appointed two women to the most senior roles in the Conservative House leadership.

Lisa Rait from Ontario was announced as Deputy Leader and the Candice Bergen of Manitoba was selected as House Leader.

Scheer has had a very inauspicious start. He hasn't been able to score on the Khadr revelations and he has chosen to make an opponent rather than an ally out of the guy who was less than 1% behind him! The first Conservative in generations to have 'coattails' in Quebec.

And who made 'gender diversity' a priority for Conservatives? This is what our mathematically challenged leader has for us? Saying "Me too" to Trudeau?

You know what 'equality' would mean to someone who could count? It means 18% get 18% of the positions. The way our Howdy-Doody leader would have it, 18% will get 50% ... and the other 82% will have to settle for the other half ... and that would be fair if the losers are men.

Isn't this exactly the kind of garbage the Charter is supposed to protect us from?

With apologies to Stevie Wonder:

"When you believe in things that you don't understand, then you suffer superstition ..."

I think Lisa Raitt is incredibly qualified when compared to nearly any MP in Ottawa;
There aren't many in Ottawa I would trust to run a frozen banana stand, let alone a large business but she is one of the few exceptions.

With that said;
I share Bugs concerns about the lack of Bernier in the inner circle of the party.

Bernier was 29% of the parties first choice;
That is a significant number when you consider it took 13 rounds to select a leader, and he was also incredibly popular in Alberta & Quebec which is a very challenging needle to thread.

The party needs to understand very clearly that while our leader was elected with 51% of the popular vote, he was the first choice to only 22% of the party and that bridges need to be made in order to assure that the majority of the party feels its voice is heard.

I don't understand the rational as to why Bernier was excluded;
There really are only two potential outcomes;

There's absolutely nothing wrong with Lisa Raitt I don't want to be put in a position to be critical of her.

But Bernier is the party's best opening in Quebec in a long time. So I look on that as a factor that should tilt the scales in his favour.

I am alarmed at how much Scheer's kick off resembles Trudeau's. What do you see as the politics of this 'diversity' stuff?

Conservatives have to understand that taking a "Me too" position on this stuff will not help them! They have to find a way of challenging that narrative, or else they will always be the 'villain' in the narratives, even when they are so desperately trying to conform to the new expectations.

As History shows, when the pendulum changes, it does at an exponential rate. What looks like a fringe activity can become mainstream in a twinkling, and a lot can happen in two or three years.

This gender stuff suggests to me that the point is quickly coming when the public loses patience with this gender nonsense. As the casualties become evident, they will see it.

There is a place where the ideas of 'equality' come into conflict with what have been understood as our traditional civil rights. For example, you can't give 50% of cabinet seats to 18% of the MPs without creating another injustice to the other 82% to bitterly share. That isn't 'equality', it's discrimination.

That's where Conservatives should shout and scream. Too many 'socially liberal' Conservatives retreat from the challenge because of the 'duelling banjos' imagery social conservatism has been tarred with, but in my experience, they only want the state to stop subsidizing the social engineering that is done through education.

So it disappoints me that Scheer is undermining the very support that gave him his edge over Bernier. Question: why would he do that? Answer: the urban vote. But that's the hardest vote for Conservatives to get. Nonetheless, this is what Scheer seems to be banking on.

Goofy has had an interview with Chatelaine, in which he declared himself a feminist!

I have less and less hope for him with every move he makes. I think we have another Joe Clark on our hands. That is -- another arrogant loser!

First, of all, why on earth does Scheer think he can out-feminist the Liberals? This will give you a taste of the reaction amongst that crowd. They operate on stereotypes, and they aren't going to let a Conservative be a feminist. Example:
http://qoshe.com/toronto-sun/c.....t-/1416512

Second, what does his declaration mean in terms of the party's policies? It's claimed that he beat Bernier because of the support of social conservatives, and now he does this to them? He should have shown up for the interview in a dress if pandering is his first principle. He certainly doesn't have any loyalty to the folks that put him over the top.

Third, feminism is cancer. It is a pack of lies. What new special privilege does he plan to confer on one-half of humanity, to the detriment of the other half? Certainly, in legal terms, women are more than equal to men already. Doesn't he care about our sons?

Fourth, does the party have any role whatever in the creation of party positions, or is all the whims of this trivial Howdy-Doody clone? Am I supposed to line up behind this party for the policy whims that come out of this spineless panderer? Can any of us trust him?

I don't know how to register with the party that I will no longer be donating as a result. It's only $200 but hopefully I am not the only one.

Scheer isn't trying to appeal to the Conservative base when appointing a "gender diverse" team, he's trying to appeal to the electorate. 50% of that electorate is women and he wants to show that they're reflected in the party, seeing we've struggled to get them to vote for the party.

Should women get a position solely based on their gender? Of course not. But we should strive to find high caliber women to put in meaningful roles. Raitt and Bergen have both shown to be very effective politicians. Raitt also provides a regional balance.

I don't really understand the criticism of Scheer not having appointed Bernier to one of these roles. Why would Bernier want one? He wants to be finance critic, which I don't think he'll get, and I doubt he'd be happy in either of these roles. I guess he could have been Quebec lieutenant, but that seems like a bit of a meaningless job. Plus, even though he won Quebec I would argue he was out organized there by Scheer. A relatively unknown MP from Saskatchewan gave the long term Quebec MP a big challenge in his home province, even winning Bernier's own riding.

I think he was a bit dumb to not give Michael Chong one of these positions. Scheer and Chong have had many policy disagreements, which could cause some conflict depending on which critic role Chong were to receive. Chong is well known and well respected for his views regarding parliament and how it functions. By giving him a position such as deputy house leader, or whip, and maybe even making him critic responsible for democratic reform, Scheer could have likely avoided potential policy clashes. He would have also given someone who comes from a different wing of the party a more prominent role.

My feeling is that he isn't going to make an inch against Trudeau on the feminism issue -- and he loses people who feel like me. (While we are quiet, don't think we're rare.) At best, Scheer's only doing a "me too" and his "me too" isn't particularly credible. Is he willing to cashier MPs, for instance, who are the targets of mere malicious gossip like Justin did? Let's hope not, but if not, he shouldn't pretend that he is willing to assent in the search for new ways women can be 'equal'.

Here's the ugly truth -- there is a gender gap amongst voters, but married women, particularly if they have children, tend strongly to vote the way their partners do. (Who knows who calls the shots? I think that that's their business.) There still is a gender gap, but not very big. The big gap opens up with the single mothers!

These women are, in any variety of ways, the beneficiaries of the state. These are not a place to go hunting for political support. Single mothers living in public housing is a political desert for Conservatives.

Think on this -- by the time things get bad enough that such women abandon Justin, he will have lost his hair and the economy will be in a shambles. It'll look like Ontario does now. We will have 'greened' ourselves into perdition.

And in comes Howdy-Doody, the feminist, to con them into thinking that returning to fiscal probity won't affect them? The cartoons almost draw themselves.

I could do a whole screed, at this point, about truth in politics, and wouldn't it be nice if at least one party was basically telling to practical truth to the public? But I don't think the 'royal jelly' people think in those terms.

Far less forgivable, in my book, is Scheer's treatment of Bernier, and his blindness to the opportunity he offers. A real opening to Quebec! Are you kidding? And now Bernier's in the pack, with all the rest of the people hoping to advance themselves through their leadership run, etc.

If that isn't telling a rival that he isn't welcome in the party, what is? Chong may be another example.

Understand me, it isn't just one person's credentials against another, it's where they stand in which community. There are such things as historical narratives. Bernier could become a 21st century Real Couette (if you go back that far) -- a small town conservative on the same wavelength as Ontario small town conservatives, now that religion isn't anything people care about.

Phewww.... so much potential, and instead ... well, I console myself -- the Liberals could have chosen an astronaut and they passed him up for Mr Vapid.

You know, Prog, I know this sounds like I am going after you, but trust me, I know you're a well-meaning person. and probably willing to actually work for what seems right to you. I respect that. If we were face-to-face, I wouldn't (likely) talk the way I write. But this is the internet. And I am really talking about the direction of the party since Scheer ascended to the throne I can only ask your indulgence and assure you, this comes more from frustration than any animosity to you. What I mean to ridicule is repeating mistakes. None of it is personal.

I'm not a fan of Scheer at all. He won't beat Trudeau and even if he did I don't know if he'd be much better.

As for Bernier, while I like him, I don't know if he's anything overly special. His performance in Quebec was not overly great considering the way that province is about their own. Scheer received almost 75% of the vote in Saskatchewan on the final ballot, compared to Bernier winning 55% in Quebec. Bernier did better in NL than he did in his home province. I thought the biggest surprise with Scheer's Quebec Lieutenant pick was that he didn't choose Gerard Deltell. Now he's a star, and someone who seems to really resonate with many Quebeckers.

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